Former President Mahama has argued that the Akufo-Addo government has been in a state of self-denial for too long when it comes to the request of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for economic assistance.
He said the delay in seeking help when it was clear the country needed help had caused significant damage to the economy.
“After a long period of living in denial and plunging the economy into an unprecedented slump, the government finally decided to apply for the IMF program a few weeks ago.
They left the decision so late that by the time the call was finally made, they had done significant damage to the economy. Inflation is at a 19-year high of nearly 30% in June and is almost poised to rise. Our deficit and revenue targets have been sorely missed so far and we are most likely to post another double-digit deficit at the end of this financial year,” he told a workshop attended by members of the minority group in Parliament on Sunday. .
Mr. Mahama bemoaned the fact that: “Indications from data collection by the IMF team that visited Ghana last week show that the government has arrears of up to GHS 40 billion and contingent liabilities on top of the official public debt of about GHS 400 billion. "
The former president believes this has increased the country's debt-to-GDP ratio by more than 90%.
“Our ability to meet our debt service obligations remains weak as Ghana is the country with the second highest probability of debt default in the world after El Salvador. It's no secret that our foreign currency reserve position is extremely precarious. This leaves us vulnerable unless there is an urgent injection of further foreign exchange inflow,” the 2020 NDC flagbearer said.
Against this background, he argued, "economic difficulties will continue for a longer period of time".
Speech of the Vice President Dr. He described Mahamudu Bawumia at the Accra Business School as relieved: “Amidst this grim outlook, those responsible for the mess refuse to show remorse and sobriety. One of the key architects of the failed policies and mismanagement that led to our economic decline and misery found it necessary a few days ago to put on a public display that borders on the ridiculous and comical."
He noted that elsewhere Dr. Bawumia resigned: "In a government where honor and accountability are respected, the chairman of the economic management team that brought us to this crisis would resign or be removed."
“In fact, the very idea that this government demanded an IMF program would be reason enough for him to go, given all the unenlightened propaganda he engaged in against our 2015 IMF program. Rather, he chose to show a gaping deficit in leadership qualities by making unsustainable excuses and trying to pin the blame on a government that left power almost six years ago and that played no part in the poor policy decisions that produced these disastrous results,” Mr. Mahama concluded.
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